The Science Behind WMD Filtration for Your Safe Room

Carbon Filtration for Chemical Weapons

Molecular Level Filtration of Warfare Gases

The military gold standard for filtering chemical warfare or chemical weapons agents in chemical or gaseous form, or at the molecular level, is a packed bed of very specialized, activated, chemically impregnated carbon granules.  A granulated carbon filter utilizes two distinctly different processes to remove these agents or molecules from an air stream.  These are physical adsorption and chemical reaction.

Chemical weapon gases come in two forms.  High vapor pressure gases such as Hydrogen Cyanide and Cyanogen Chloride and low vapor pressure gases such as nerve agents like Sarin and VX Nerve Gas.  Your Filter Science unit is 99.999 % effective against both high vapor pressure and low vapor pressure chemical warfare gases.

Let us explain further.  As air passes through each Filter Science unit, relatively large, low vapor pressure gas molecules are trapped by the very small holes or micropores of the carbon.  This highly specialized carbon is very effective in trapping these molecules because its pore sizes vary and have a tremendously large surface area.  Typically, the pores of our carbon have an effective filter surface area of about 305,191 square feet per ounce.  This gives your NBC 450 carbon filter a surface area of over 2.999 square miles or your NBC 300 a carbon filter surface area of 1.803 square miles.

However, trapping or filtering, works well only against larger molecules.  To filter chemicals of higher vapor pressure and smaller molecular size, the carbon must be impregnated with salts of copper, zinc, silver, molybdenum, and triethylene diamine, which react with deadly gaseous chemicals to form products that are innocuous or that can be physically adsorbed by the carbon.

The Filter Science unit can be expected to physically adsorb about 20% of its weight in chemical warfare agents or to remove about 5 to 10% of its weight in reactive gas.

Nuclear Weapons Dust and Biological Weapons Particle Filtration

Particulate Filtration

The military gold standard for filtering nuclear weapon particles and harmful biological weapon agents from a safe room air stream is the certified and tested, Nuclear Grade, High Density, Particulate air filter.  A component of all filtration units used by the military and the nuclear industry, this filter is normally placed upstream of the carbon filter to remove not only biological warfare agents and solid aerosols but also liquid aerosols. It also protects the carbon filter from atmospheric dust.

Our quality control starts with each roll of media tested for efficiency using a Q-127 penetrometer.  The media is also tested for thickness, basis weight, tensile strength, binder content, water repellency, and pressure drop.  Once a roll meets our specifications, it is carefully pleated and assembled by attaching it to an anodized extruded aluminum frame with a UL classified, white urethane adhesive. The filter is then tested by a laser particle counter and certified to meet our high standards.  This certification accompanies each filter we ship.

Each Nuclear Grade, High Density Particulate Filter is identified by serial number and is labeled for you with performance criteria, media lot number, operator number, and part number.  This elaborate testing ensures that you receive the highest quality product. 

Most HEPA filters have efficiencies of 99.97% at 0.3 microns.  Our Nuclear Grade, High Density, High Efficiency, Particulate Air Filter goes much farther with an efficiency of 99.999% on particles down to 0.12 um in size.

All Filter Science safe room units contain the above technologies.  Our Whole Room Gas Masks™ are positive pressure filtration systems which filter the entire air supply for all the occupants in your safe room - without the cumbersome attire of gas masks..

information@filterscience.com        602.953.2677

Copyright © 2007 Filter Science All Rights Reserved.
Designated trademarks and brands are the property of
their respective owners.

Home     What You Need To Know     To Protect Your Family     The Science Behind the Filter     Installation     Operation     NBC Protection Products    NBC 300    NBC 450    Emergency Spare Filters    Yes! I Want to Order    NBC Filter Features    Frequently Asked Questions   Contact Us